Molecular electronics is a rapidly growing field and is providing for a means to overcome the miniaturization limits that Si technology is approaching. Molecules and nanometer-scale components, with unique functionality are considered possible candidates for molecular electronics. One of the challenges facing molecular electronics is communicating the information/functionality of the molecules to the “outside” world. In order to accomplish this, a simple and robust procedure needs to be developed to selectively place and “wire” nanometer-scale components, such as molecules, to metal electrodes. A rapid screening method to “hook-up” candidate molecules to be tested and determine their functionality is also considered a crucial step toward molecular electronics.
Assessing the feasibility of molecular electronics requires the screening of a large number of nano-scale components, for their potential applications. The main challenge is to make electrical contact to molecules to determine their transport properties. For instance, typical dimensions of molecular systems are well below the resolution limits of electron beam lithography. Although various fabrication approaches have been proposed, a quick and simple way to make measurements on a small number of molecules still remains a challenge.
One of the approaches for transport measurements in molecular electronic technology uses electrostatic trapping to bridge electrodes in a controlled way with a single conducting nanoparticle. In electrostatic trapping, nanoparticles are polarized by an applied direct current (DC) electric field and are attracted to the gap between the electrodes where the field is maximum. One approach, for example, teaches the use of a DC bias to attract DNA, carbon nanotubes, or other nanoparticles to a pair of electrodes. The use of a DC bias as the applied electric field provides for the attraction of charged molecules, including unwanted contaminants, to bridge the electrodes and results in non-specific selectivity to the electrodes.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide for a method of achieving greater control and greater selectivity with respect to placement of nanometer-scale components on a single electrode, or between a plurality of electrodes, in comparison to what was previously achieved with DC fields.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for a method of selectively aligning and positioning nanometer-scale components using AC fields.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide for a method for selectively aligning and positioning nanometer-scale components utilizing AC fields which provides for more precise manipulation of the nanometer-scale components in bridging test electrodes.